Sea Shepherd uses direct action tactics and information campaigns to protect marine life and inform the public of their plight. The organization was founded in 1977 under the name Earth Force Society by Paul Watson, a former member of Greenpeace.[2] In 2008, Animal Planet began filming the weekly series Whale Wars based on the group's encounters with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean, which raised public awareness of the issue of illegal whaling and of the organization itself. Sea Shepherd has received widespread public support for its actions against illegal fishing, whaling, and seal hunting as well as support and funding from celebrities, such as musicians and TV personalities.

Sea Shepherd currently operates nine vessels (see: Neptune's Navy). In addition to the organization's role of documenting and reporting violations of conservation laws, Sea Shepherd operations have utilized direct, non-lethal tactics including scuttling and disabling whaling vessels at harbor, intervening in Canadian and Namibian seal hunts,[3] shining laser light at whalers,[4][5] throwing bottles of foul-smelling butyric acid onto vessels at sea,[5] boarding of whaling vessels to protest while at sea, and seizure and destruction of drift nets at sea. Sea Shepherd claims that their tactics are necessary to uncover and impede actions that violate international laws protecting wildlife, as the international community has shown itself unwilling or unable to stop species-endangering whaling and fishing practices.[6]

The tactics of Sea Shepherd have been opposed, even by some who denounce whaling, such as Greenpeace[7] and some officials in the governments of Australia and New Zealand.[8] Paul Watson and American members of Sea Shepherd are currently prohibited by US courts from approaching or harassing Japanese whalers, even if they are observed acting in defiance of international law, i.e., by killing whales in protected waters.[9]

The Japanese government, whose whaling industry is a leading target of the organization's efforts, have called Sea Shepherd eco-terrorists for impeding their research.[10] However, in March 2014 the International Court of Justice ruled the Japanese whaling program in the Southern Ocean was not, as claimed, for scientific purposes, and ordered Japan to cease operations.[11]

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The predecessor organization of Sea Shepherd, the "Earth Force Society", was formed in 1977, after its founder, Paul Watson was ousted from the board of Greenpeace for disagreements over his direct action activism which clashed with their pacifist nature.[12] Watson soon left Greenpeace. Initially without funding and with only a small group of supporters, in 1978 Watson convinced Cleveland Amory, head of the Fund for Animals to fund Watson's first vessel, the Sea Shepherd.[6]

The first direct action undertaken by Sea Shepherd was against Canadian seal hunting in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in March 1979.[13][14] Also in 1979, the group made headlines when, for the first time, they rammed a pirate whaling vessel,[15] the notorious Sierra.[16] Such acts continued with Sea Shepherd claiming responsibility for damaging or sinking multiple whaling ships, through sabotage or ramming. The group has attempted to intervene against Russian, Spanish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Makah, Faroese, and Japanese whalers in multiple campaigns around the globe.[2][6] Setting a pattern that the group would keep up in later years, the group managed to scuttle a Portuguese whaling vessel, though the first Sea Shepherd was impounded, and lost. Watson states he used the money gained from selling the story rights to fund his next vessel.[6]

After having spent the 1980s undertaking a variety of controversial and dangerous operations in support of various marine conservation aims, in the 1990s the group has been described as having undertaken a shift in their public attitude.[6] Having previously argued primarily from an ethical viewpoint, from the 1990s, Watson's group now also started ascribing themselves law enforcement powers, using its interpretation of maritime and conservation law, to describe themselves as an anti-poaching agency.[6][17] Throughout the 1990s The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had also made a lot of progress with not only with the establishment of their group but also saving wildlife. In March 1990, the society teamed up with others to look closer at methods of driftnet and were successful. 1994 was another successful year for The Sea Shepherd crew as they went after an illegal Norwegian whaling vessel. Sea Shepherd crew ended up sinking this vessel and they were not charged for doing this because the vessel had more illegal behavior than expected.[18] The group started the new decade with a clean up after the oil spill by Petrobras Oil Company. Sea Shepherd helped clean up and set up ways to rescue the wildlife affected by the spill and were contracted by The Rio government to help with this devastation to the ocean.[18] In some cases in the 2000s, they cooperated with official government efforts against maritime poaching, such as in Costa Rican waters, though the agreements often did not last long before conflict ensued.[19] 2008 was another big year for Sea Shepherd in managing the waterways. They took two trips around Antarctica to disturb illegal whaling practices that went on.[18]

However, there is increasing co-operation with national governments in assisting anti-poaching activity in national territorial waters and marine reserves, including in 2016 with the Italian Coast guard in Sicily (Operation Siracusa), Mexican Navy (Operation Milagro) and the Coastguards of Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe (Operation Albacore) which included having Gabonese military marines aboard.

Starting in September 2010, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has positioned a crew in Taiji, Japan to monitor and report their annual dolphin drive hunt.[citation needed]

Sea Shepherd is a non-governmental, non-profit environmental organization. In the United States it has a 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Most of the organization's revenue—83.2 percent—is spent on its programs, while 16.7 percent of revenue is spent on administrative and fundraising.[20] It is supported by private and corporate donations, lectures by Watson, internet advertising,[6] and grants. The group is operated by volunteers and a small number of paid staff.[6] Watson says he is committed to keeping his organization small, and does not believe in spending money on fundraising or recruitment.[6]

Sea Shepherd is governed by a board of directors, including Watson. The organization has several boards of advisers, each addressing an area of expertise. The Scientific, Technical, and Conservation Advisory Board includes Earth First! founder Dave Foreman and Horst Klienschmidt, a former deputy chair of the International Whaling Commission (2006). The Legal and Law Enforcement Advisory Board includes Ian Campbell, a former Australian Minister of the Environment and Heritage (2004–07) whom whaling groups had accused of having inappropriate and close ties with the organization.[21][22] The Animal Welfare, Humane and Animal Rights Advisory Board included animal rights philosopher Tom Regan, until his death in 2017. The Media and Arts Advisory Board includes several major Hollywood stars. There is a Photography Advisory Board and a Financial and Management Advisory Board.[23]

Sea Shepherd engages in conventional protests and direct actions to protect marine wildlife. Sea Shepherd operations have included interdiction against commercial fishing, shark poaching and finning, seal hunting, and whaling.[2][24] The group has been active in intervening against fishing and poaching in the South Pacific, the Mediterranean, and in waters around the Galapagos Islands. In addition to their direct action campaigns, Sea Shepherd also works on important ocean issues such as plastic pollution. Sea Shepherd chapters across the world organize onshore cleanups throughout the year to pick up debris near oceans, streams, and rivers. In April 2018, Sea Shepherd released a PSA that takes an artistic approach to telling us that more than 1 million marine animals die every year from plastic debris.[25]

According to its mission statement, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society "uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas".[26] Those actions have included scuttling and disabling commercial whaling vessels at harbor, using limpet mines to blow holes in ship hulls,[10]ramming other vessels, throwing glass bottles of butyric acid on the decks of vessels at sea, boarding of whaling vessels while at sea, and seizure and destruction of drift nets at sea. As of 2009, Paul Watson has said that the organization has sunk ten whaling ships while also destroying millions of dollars worth of equipment.[27] Their practice of attacking and sinking other ships has led to reports of injuries to other sailors as well as the Sea Shepherd crew, including concussions and complications from chemical attacks.[28][29]

Watson considers the actions of Sea Shepherd to be against criminal operations and has called the group an anti-poaching organization.[17] Critics claim that Sea Shepherd's actions constitute violations of international law,[30] while Watson has stated that Sea Shepherd believes that their actions constitute an attempt to enforce international conservation laws and international maritime law under the World Charter for Nature adopted by the United Nations.[31][32] Australia has declared Japan's hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to be illegal, and federal court judge Jim Allsop has stated "there is no practical mechanism by which orders of this court can be enforced".[33] The lack of official enforcement mechanisms in that law prompted the Society to adopt, without official sanction, what it sees as a law enforcement mission. A 2008 academic paper by researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Victoria concluded that the group "may be best categorized as a vigilante group, because they say they are seeking to enforce a legal status quo because of states' and the international community's inabilities or unwillingness to do so".[16]

Watson left Greenpeace in 1977 after being expelled from the board of directors due to his confrontational methods.[34] Since then, Greenpeace has criticized Sea Shepherd for the group's tactics,[35] particularly regarding its interaction with whaling ships while at sea. The rival environmental group maintains Sea Shepherd is a violent organization whose tactics may endanger the lives of fishermen and whalers.[36][37] Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment on his activities.[10] Greenpeace is also critical of the group on its website and state: "By making it easy to paint anti-whaling forces as dangerous, piratical terrorists, Sea Shepherd could undermine the forces within Japan which could actually bring whaling to an end".[7] Both groups protest the Japanese whale hunts in the Southern Ocean but Greenpeace has a policy to not assist Sea Shepherd in finding the whalers. In his 2009 book, Whaling in Japan, Jun Morikawa states that Sea Shepherd's confrontational tactics have actually strengthened Japan's resolve to continue with its whaling program. According to Morikawa, Sea Shepherd's activities against Japan's whaling ships have allowed the Japanese government to rally domestic support for the program from Japanese who were otherwise ambivalent about the practice of hunting and eating whales.[38]

Sea Shepherd has been criticized and sometimes physically attacked by people in several of the countries they protest against. In March 1995, a mob of Canadian seal hunters stormed the hotel where members were staying. They fled while the mob ransacked their room.[39] In November 1998, Makah seized an inflatable boat belonging to the group and threw rocks at the Sea Shepherd's Sirenian in response to protests over their whale hunt.[40] In 2005, 11 Sea Shepherd crew were involved in an altercation with sealers while on the ice. The sealers were not charged with any crime, but the activists were arrested and later convicted for approaching too close to the hunt.[41][42][43] In 2008, fishermen in the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon cut the mooring lines of the Farley Mowat after hearing Watson make disparaging comments about the deaths of four seal hunters.[44] In February 2010, pro-whaling demonstrators gathered outside the Australian Embassy in Tokyo to protest the group. A political activist said that Sea Shepherd's actions were "absolutely racial discrimination against Japanese people".[45] In response, Sea Shepherd stated that they also oppose whaling in the Faroe Islands, sealing in Canada, etc. In response to the events of the sinking of the MY Ady Gil in January 2010, Glenn Inwood, whose firm handles public relations on behalf of the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, accused Sea Shepherd of being "hostile eco-terrorists".[5] In March 2014 the International Court of Justice ruled Japan's whaling program was not for scientific purposes. The Court ordered that Japan "revoke any extant authorization, permit or licence to kill, take or treat whales" and refrain from granting any further permits."[46]

As a response to the court ruling, Japan has cut its annual whaling quota from 915 to 333. The new quota includes only minke whales, while the hunting of humpback whales and Fin whales ceased.[47] Paul Watson said "I think we've done an amazing job reducing their quotas and saving whales," and has gone on to claim that the actions of Sea Shepherd and the publicity generated was a major factor behind Japan's decision.[48]

In the summer of 2017, Japan passed new anti-terrorism legislation in view of the coming 2020 Olympics. Among others, the new law declare the presence of eco-activist vessels near whalers a terrorist offence. Citing the new laws, Sea Shepherd declared it will stop sending their ships to the Antarctic Ocean against Japanese whaling ships. Sea Shepherd has also pointed out that their vessels were being tracked through the use of Japanese military surveillance satellites. These combined measures were deemed to make Sea Shepherd's Antarctic operations no longer productive. According to Watson, his organisation "cannot compete with their military-grade technology".[49][50]

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has received attention from the press and been called "media savvy".[2][51] The group has worked with journalists and has made statements through press releases to spread its message during various campaigns.[52][53]

Watson's public relations savvy is shown in an episode of Whale Wars when he creates an international "media storm"[54] after two crewmembers are detained on a Japanese whaling vessel. In his book, Earthforce!, Watson advises readers to make up facts and figures when they need to, and to deliver them to reporters confidently.[6] He also states that the "truth is irrelevant" due to the nature of mass media.[55] In response to criticism that he manipulates the media, Watson has stated: "What we do is provide the media with the kind of stories they can't resist... and this is how we bring attention to what's happening to the whales, the seals, the sharks and the other marine conservation campaigns we're involved in."[10]

Sea Shepherd has also used satellite uplinks, webcams, and internet blogging during its operations in the Southern Ocean, and has invited the media to ride along.[56] In 2006, representatives from Seven network and National Geographic magazine, along with documentary filmmakers, accompanied the group.[2] In a television series entitled Whale Wars, Discovery Communications, Inc. documented Sea Shepherd's 2008/09 Antarctic campaign against Japanese whalers, following events on the Steve Irwin.[10] The program premiered on November 7, 2008, on Discovery's Animal Planet network.

The Lush cosmetics company joined with Sea Shepherd to raise awareness about the practice of shark finning in 2008. Lush produced 'Shark Fin Soap' (punning on 'shark fin soup'); all sale proceeds were directed to Sea Shepherd.[65] To launch the soap and awareness campaign a performance artist suspended herself, using hooks in her flesh, in a Lush shopfront window in London.[66]

In Tasmania, Sea Shepherd has been banned from participation in the Australian Wooden Boat Festival on the grounds that its presence could jeopardize the reputation of the organization which aims to celebrate maritime heritage, but not modern maritime issues in Australian waters.[67]

In testimony on "The Threat of Eco-Terrorism" given to a US congressional subcommittee in 2002, Sea Shepherd was the first group mentioned by an FBI official for having attacked commercial fishing operations by cutting drift nets.[68] An earlier Canadian intelligence report on "single issue terrorism" stated that "Watson and his supporters have been involved in a number of militant actions against whale hunting, driftnet fishing, seal hunting and other related issues" and mentions "activities against logging operations in Canada".[69] In 2007, Ian Campbell, then the Australian Environment Minister and a vigorous critic of Japan's whaling, once opposed Sea Shepherd's tactics, saying that it really put the cause of conservation backwards.[8] Due to the 2008 operations against Canadian seal hunters, Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, called Watson a terrorist and said that Sea Shepherd was not welcome in the province.[70] The group has been accused of eco-terrorism by the Japanese government,[10] whose internationally banned whaling program[11] is a principal focus of the Sea Shepherd.

Sea Shepherd has based many of its operations out of Australia with foreign crew members being able to travel in and out of the country on tourist visas.[71]Tasmanian Greens and the former Greens Senator Bob Brown, have endorsed and supported the Society in various ways, including advocacy within the Australian government and public endorsement of the group.[72] However, Nationals Party Senator Barnaby Joyce has opposed granting Sea Shepherd tax-exempt status stating that "Criminals should not get tax concessions – if you break the law, then donations to your organisation should not be tax deductible".[73]

When the Steve Irwin returned to Hobart, Tasmania in February 2009, Australian Federal Police seized film footage and the ship's logs, reportedly prompted by complaints from Japan.[74][75] Brown demanded that the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, order their immediate return, but a spokesman for the Home Affairs Minister said it was a federal police matter.[76]

A variation of the flag used by the group

In October 2009, The Australian Immigration Department ruled that Watson and his First Officer, Peter Hammarstedt, must satisfy new good-character requirements to obtain business visas, requiring them to provide police references from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway. Watson criticized what he considered a submission to Japanese pressure by the Rudd government.[71] The Australian government responded by rejecting the idea that it was in some way delaying Watson, and on October 20, 2009 issued visas to Watson and Hammarstedt.[77]

Paul Watson said to Discovery Channel the Dalai Lama sent a letter of support for Sea Shepherd's volunteers accompanied by a wrathful, scowling statue of the deity Hayagriva,[10] which expresses compassion and determination in overcoming obstacles. In 2010 during a visit to Japan, the Dalai Lama said that while he agrees with the goal of stopping Japan from hunting whales, they should stop using violent methods to achieve that goal.[78]

The ships of the fleet have flown the flags of different nations and the opinion of several governments that the vessels are engaged in inappropriate activities has several times led to registration issues for Sea Shepherd vessels.[79][80] Canada, Belize, UK and Togo have revoked the registrations of various vessels.[81][82][83] Both the Steve Irwin and Bob Barker ships now sail under Dutch flag leading to direct complaints by the Japanese government towards Dutch ambassadors. The Netherlands consequently considered revoking the registrations for both vessels but finally decided not to do so.[84]

Officials in Japan have discussed revoking the group's tax exempt status with their counterparts in the United States.[85][86][87]

In December 2011, the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) and Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd, the two Japanese organizations which operate Japan's whaling program, sued Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) in U.S. federal district court in Seattle. The suit requested an injunction to stop Sea Shepherd's operations against Japanese whalers. The suit was filed in Seattle because Sea Shepherd is based in the state of Washington.[88] The federal court denied the ICR's preliminary injunction against SSCS.[89] The ICR and Kyodo Senpaku appealed and, on December 17, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an injunction against Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd and any party acting in concert with them from physically attacking any person or vessel of the ICR and requiring them to stay at least 500 yd (457 m) from their vessels.[90][9] After the court ruling, Paul Watson stepped down and Bob Brown succeeded his role as the leader of SSCS.[91][92] Sea Shepherd appealed to the US Supreme Court to have the injunction set aside, but the appeal was rejected.[93] On February 26, 2013, the Court of Appeals maintained the injunction, stating that SSCS's activities were "the very embodiment of piracy".[94][95] This reversed a previous decision by Richard A. Jones, who was removed as trial judge for abuse of discretion.[96][97]

In 2013, Julie Bishop, the Foreign Minister of Australia, told the press club of Japan, "We do not, and will never, condone reckless, dangerous, unlawful behaviour. And where it occurs on the high seas, we will unreservedly condemn it. The fact that the Sea Shepherd visits Australian ports or some of the Sea Shepherd fleet might be registered in Australia is not indicative in any way of the Australian government’s support for the organisation. And we will continue to comply fully with our international legal obligations with regard to safety at sea".[98]

In March 2012, reacting to Paul Watson's allegation that Maltese politicians were bribed by the Bluefin tuna industry, Prime Minister of MaltaLawrence Gonzi announced that the government would initiate libel proceedings against the Sea Shepherd founder.[99]

In May 2012, Watson was detained by German authorities after he arrived at the Frankfurt Airport based on a request from the government of Costa Rica. The charge stemmed from an altercation in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd contends that the other vessel was shark finning in Guatemalan waters. Members of the other involved ship said that Sea Shepherd was trying to kill them.[100] Watson was charged with violating navigational regulations.[101] The conflict took place during filming for the documentary Sharkwater.[102] Watson subsequently skipped bail and went into hiding at the end of July.[103]
Watson's lawyer has confirmed that he has fled the country.[104] The Costa Rican government requested the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to issue a Red Notice (an arrest request to member countries), which was granted by Interpol.[105]

The Steve Irwin was obtained in 2007 and originally called the Robert Hunter. It was renamed in honor of The Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin.[110] His widow, Terri, gave her support to Sea Shepherd, saying: "Whales have always been in Steve's heart and in 2006 he was investigating the possibility of joining the Sea Shepherd on part of its journey to defend these beautiful animals."[111] The other ship, the 1200 ton Bob Barker, was named after well-known television game show host and animal activist Bob Barker, who made the purchase in Ghana of the retired Norwegian whaling vessel possible with a donation of US$5 million.[112] In February 2010, the Bob Barker collided with the Japanese whaling vessel Yushin Maru No. 3, tearing a gash in the hull of the Bob Barker.[113]

The group also formerly operated the Farley Mowat (impounded by the Canadian government, with Sea Shepherd having stated that they have no intention of paying the legal fines and berthage fees to recover their now obsolete vessel) and the Ady Gil, formerly known as the Earthrace (sunk after a collision with the MV Shōnan Maru 2 whaling security vessel in early 2010)[114] as well as a number of earlier vessels.

Sea Shepherd acquired the Ocean 7 Adventurer for its 2010/11 campaign against Japanese whaling in the Antarctic.[115] In November 2010, Mayor Brad Pettitt of Fremantle, Western Australia, christened the vessel Gojira with Fremantle as its home port, making this the first Sea Shepherd ship registered in Australia, with an Australian crew. The Gojira was renamed MV Brigitte Bardot in May 2011 after complaints of copyright infringement by Toho.[116]

For the 2011–2012 Antarctic campaign, the organization acquired drone aircraft to assist in their surveillance of the whaling ships.[117]

In July 2012 Sam Simon, a co-creator of The Simpsons, reportedly donated money to purchase the fourth vessel, a former German icebreaker.[118] The actual ship however turned out to be a former Japanese weather survey vessel, now called the MY Sam Simon.

On October 18, 2014, Martin Sheen, the actor, unveiled Sea Shepherd’s newest vessel, R/V Martin Sheen, named in his honor,[119] and captained by Oona Layolle of France. The name of this vessel carries the prefix "R/V" because it will be engaged in direct action as a research vessel.

On December 7, 2017 the organization announced the acquisition of a third Island Class Cutter thanks to a donation from Chris Sharp, a biotech businessman. The vessel was named MV Sharpie, and for its maiden mission it will join Operation Milagro in the Gulf of California to help save the endangered vaquita porpoise.[122][123]